Letter of Challenge
by TimeTraveler008
Summary: It would have been better if she had ignored the letter. It should have never ended up like this. It was all her fault.


The Time Traveler welcomes you to another edition of her Story-time!

She graciously reminds her readers that she does not and never will own Detective Conan. She bows to the magnificence that is Gosho Aoyama-sama.

There will be no canon Character Death. The Time Traveler insists upon a happy ending.

This piece will revolve around Shinichi, Ran, Heiji, and Kazuha. The plot bunnies were sitting on the Time Traveler's head and refusing to leave her alone.

* * *

The screeching alarm startled her back to coherent thought, along with the thudding of escaping feet. She heard a door open and slam shut. Then all she could hear was the alarm and distant yelling.

She couldn't believe that it had ended like this. It should never have ended like this, _damn it,_ and it was all her fault. She never should have paid attention to that stupid letter.

She tried to push herself up off of the column she huddled against but fell back, intense pain making her head spin and her legs tremble. Everything felt completely battered and bruised. This was definitely not going to be something she could just walk away from. Even worse, she couldn't see out of her left eye, which had sealed itself shut_. Oh, God._ She turned her head, desperately scanning, searching, fighting back the dizzying nausea that had crept up into her throat.

"Oh, please, oh please, oh please…oh, no." She felt her heart sink even lower. It was all her fault. There was blood everywhere. She couldn't even move; her body's agony made sure of that. Her tears began to mix with the blood on her cheeks. It wasn't supposed to end like this…

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Kazuha-chan…"

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"Oi, Kudo?"

"Yeah?"

"Which did it, do yeh think?"

The young detective sighed heavily. "And why would I tell you?"

A low growl preceded his comrade's response. "Because we are supposed to be working together, jerk!"

He sighed again. This case was pretty low key, well, as low key as it could get with the Detective of the East and the Detective of the West on the scene.

Of course, Hattori was in Tokyo, i.e. Kudo's turf, this time so the main responsibility was on Kudo. It didn't mean that Hattori was not going to be competitive. It also didn't mean that they couldn't work together anyway. Allowing himself to grin, Shinichi Kudo metaphorically bit the bullet. "Who do you think murdered Mr. Yamasaki?"

Hattori pursed his lips. "I think it was the son."

"Which one?"

"The biological one, Toushiro. The step-son, Hiroki, has no real motive."

"Really? What's Toushiro's motive then?"

"The inheritance. He doesn't want to share. The step-son isn't old enough yet for the will to count him in because he has to be of age, i.e. twenty one."

Shinichi's grin grew a tad wider. "Very good, Hei-chan!"

Heiji thrust his fist in front of the other boy's face. "Call me that again, and I'll rip you a new one."

His tormentor held up his hands in surrender. "Easy! I was kidding!" The Osakan detective dropped his hand, but his angry stare remained in place. Shinichi threw him a mischievous grin. "In any case, we have a criminal to catch. Care to join me?"

Heiji's glare was instantly replaced by an intense smile. "Lead the way!"

WMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

Security cameras revealed a scene which the old man had hoped he would never see in his lifetime. A gang fight, in his warehouse! The two bodies already on the floor did nothing for his poor heart. Calling for his partner on this shift, Wakabayashi, the seasoned guard hit the alarm switch and ran for the warehouse, pulling out his flashlight. His partner only caught up when they reached the entrance to the storeroom in question. Taking a deep breath, they shoved it open.

"Shit." The room was deserted, except for… "Wakabayashi, call an ambulance! And while you're at it, call the police too! Now!" The younger security guard fled the room, while the senior guard ran to kneel next to the bleeding, unconscious girl on the floor, rapidly searching for a pulse. He heard a cough from his left and glanced up, tensing as he did. There was the other victim, another young woman, leaned up against a support beam. He stood and dashed over to her. "What hurts, missy?"

She moaned, shuddering. She looked like she had taken a very hard blow to the head, judging from the blood. "Head. Ankle. Everything. Oh, God. Kazuha. Is she-"

"Your friend? She's hanging on. I'm going to go back to her now. Can you stay awake for me, miss-?"

"Ran. My name's Ran. Please, help Kazuha…" Her voice began to fade and he noticed that she was pale and shivering.

"Ran-san, I need you to stay awake. Can you stay awake for me, Ran-san?"

"I-I don't know. I'm so tired…" She lapsed into silence as he heard the sirens blare outside the building.


End file.
